Michael is coming home early! And we are going to trial with the Climate Necessity Defense!

posted by nicole Bradford | 32sc
July 17, 2018

Michael will be released from North Dakota Corrections at midnight on August 1st to board a bus straight away that will deliver him to Seattle just 24 hours later. If you would like to be part of his welcome home committee, please email shutitdown.today@gmail.com. We’ll be popping over to Denny’s for vegan burgers and then ushering him and his sweety Sue home.

Michael wants to thank you for helping him replenish the MRCC prison library. He has received over 100 books. Because he will be home soon, letter writing and the book drive has ended. All the cards, letters and books you sent have made Michael's time in Bismarck much easier. Thank you, friends! To plug in and support Michael and the future of our planet, his request is that we help with the Zero Hour Seattle Youth March organized by the Plant for the Planet kids.

Michael is just finishing six months locked up in the North Dakota prison system, and very few of us can really understand what that's been like. We are all looking forward to hearing about his experience, stay tuned for Seattle events, including a party to Welcome Michael home and a screening of The Reluctant Radical.

Climate Necessity Defense in Minnesota!

We just found out today that the Minnesota Supreme Court has decided not to hear the prosecution’s appeal of the Necessity Defense in the trials of Emily Johnston, Annette Klapstein, Ben Joldersma, and Steve Liptay. The trial will likely be this October.

Appeals are underway in Washington, Montana, and North Dakota questioning the denial of the Necessity Defense in all other Valve Turner cases. This week at a pretrial hearing of Water Protectors in Duluth, MN a judge decided to allow the Climate Necessity Defense, a decision that is going unchallenged by the prosecutor. We are emboldened by these small victories, when we have a lot to gain, and so very much to lose.